Woodtree Playground

Woodtree Playground

Woodtree Playground is so named for the prominent willow oak (Quercus phellos)
trees in the playground. A popular tree for parks and streets, the willow oak
is one of the more durable trees. Although it flourishes in a wetter climate,
the willow oak adapts to widely varying conditions. The trees narrow leaves create
a comfortable shade, and are among the last to fall during the autumn.

Woodtree Playground is one of many New York parks built under the supervision
of Robert Moses (1888-1981), a New York City Parks commissioner and a legendary
figure in New York City politics. Moses, who served as Commissioner from 1934
to 1960, supervised the construction of 255 New York City playgrounds. Prior
to 1934, the only parklands serving the Steinway neighborhood were Astoria Park
and Rainey Park. This site was acquired by condemnation on April 27, 1950, and
placed under Parks jurisdiction on August 23, 1950.

The Steinway neighborhood is named for Steinway and Sons, the piano business
established by Henry Engelhard Steinweg in 1853 before emigrating from Seesen,
Germany, to America. He opened a piano factory in Manhattan in 1860, and the
family name changed to Steinway in 1866. Henry died in 1871, and his sons Theodore
and Henry, Jr., continued to craft pianos while Henry's brother William managed
the business. Between 1870 and 1873, William purchased a 400-acre tract of land
near Bowery Bay in Queens and built a factory and worker facilities. Steinway's
Astoria Homestead Company included a kindergarten, a church, a public trolley
line, a bath house, parks, athletic fields, a free library, and frame houses
for the workers. The factory eventually relocated, but the neighborhood still
bears the name.

When the playground opened in October 1951, it featured handball and basketball
courts, a see saw, a jungle gym, a gated wading pool, slides, swings, a comfort
station, drinking fountain, benches, and a flagpole. A reconstruction was completed
in 1996 with $849,000 in capital funding provided by Council Member Peter Vallone.
Today the playground also holds dolphin animal art, play equipment with safety
surfacing, a sprinkler area, and a flagpole with a yardarm.